Anyone but Him by Sheila O’Flanagan

I have recently been in a reading slump. I had not read in a while, months really. So, I thought this was going to be a cheesy book with an easy story that will be a breeze to read and maybe get me into the habit of reading again. I also wanted to get into writing reviews for my blog as well, for I have not written in months. To be honest, I have not been in my best productive or healthy mental state for the past year or so. It may be the pandemic or the stress of moving to a new country and starting fresh during that pandemic. I’m doing okay now, and the only way to get better is to do the things I love once more, reading and writing. So let’s get to it.

Synopsis:

Andie and Jin are sisters with opposite personalities. Jin is into the luxury lifestyle with her big house and designer clothes. Andie is the opposite, more down to earth with a simple music teacher’s job. The sisters may not see eye to eye but when their widowed mother, Cora, comes back from a Caribbean cruise with a young lover, they are united in horror. Who is this guy and what does he want from Cora? On top of this, the girls are facing a crisis in their respective love lives as well.

Review:

I have to say that when I started the book, I did not like any of the characters. Andie’s introduction is just used to show us how down to earth she is. The author tries to establish that by stating that Andie usually doesn’t care what she looks like or does not involve herself in the “designer upmanship that goes on between women.” Andie disapproves of her sister’s wealthy lifestyle and is happy with the simple life she leads. This is brought up so many times in the book that Andie just seems like a snob. For all the high and mighty act that Andie pulls in front of others, behind closed doors she is sleeping with a married man. She has been having this affair for four years! Nobody knows, so of course they all think she has no social life. Whenever someone makes a comment on her empty love life, she thinks to herself, “If only you knew.” Yeah, if she is the protagonist, she is not very likable.

Her sister Jin is the perfect trophy wife for her business magnet husband, Kevin. The author mentions that Jin is an intelligent woman but this is never displayed in any way in the book. She has always loved the wealthy lifestyle and Kevin was rich enough to give her everything her heart desired. She supposedly loves Kevin but given what I know about Jin, she would not have looked at him a second time if he did not come with wealth. The little princess act gets old fast. Her thoughts and actions are not grounded in reality. Her husband Kevin is a controlling, manipulative asshole. Enough said.

The only likable character was her mom Cora who seems more down to earth and has a consistent personality throughout the book. Her and Jack are the only people who are relatable and fun in the book.

The story is meant to be a sort of self-reflection of the three women, helping them figure out what they want out of life and what makes them happy. The concept sounds like an interesting one, but how they actually go about discovering their contentment is not realistic. Take Andie, for example, she and her boyfriend had auditioned for an orchestra many years ago. He was selected but she was not and they broke up. She was so traumatized by this one rejection that she convinced herself that she will never be good enough to play in the big leagues and just stopped playing the piano in public. She usually only plays in her apartment or when no one is around. At the end of the book, she accepts the audience of her neighbor because she is over her fear of playing in public. There was no real healing, except for the one time Jack convinced her to play at one of Jin’s parties by singing along with the music so she is not the only one on display. Just one comfortable performance does not change your perception about yourself that you’ve built up for years.

Oh, and Jin; She meets her pregnant friend who seems so happy with her pregnancy that she catches baby fever. Now, everywhere she looks, she sees babies. Her desire to have a child grows so big that she starts scheming about ways to have a baby. She knows Kevin can’t get her pregnant because he has had a vasectomy. He already has two kids from his first marriage and he is not ready for more. Jin tries to bring up this topic with Kevin a few times, which only ends in an argument. This is where “intelligent” Jin is convinced that she needs to get pregnant by some other dude and tell Kevin that the vasectomy didn’t work. How dumb is that? Kevin is the type of guy who will request a DNA test and kick her out the house without a pause. Her brilliant idea was to sleep with her mom’s boyfriend. He had worked as a male escort a long time ago so he will get her pregnant if she offers him money, right? When Jack rejects her, it’s like she is sobering up and finally decides to divorce Kevin as that is the best course of action for her.

The writing is not inherently bad, but it is fairly simple and a little cliché. Like when Andie is getting ready for a party in the beginning of the book, her boyfriend comments on how stunning she looks. But, Andie feels like she only looks okay and that she usually doesn’t care how she looks and can’t bother with fancy designer clothes. I guess this is supposed to make her relatable? When the young fellow Jack enters the story, he is described by many as a “sex on legs” and “walking sex god” or whatever. I wish people would bring more complexity into human conversation. I mean, who talks like this? This just feels like lazy writing.

Overall, I give this book a 3 star. It’s a quick read and a simple story and it did what it was supposed to do. It got me out of my reading slump.

Rating: 3/5